Called to Preach

January 20

(Acts 2:14-20 NIV) ““Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. {15} These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning! {16} No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: {17} "'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. {18} Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. {19} I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. {20} The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.””

(Acts 9:17-20 NIV) ““Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord--Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here--has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit." {18} Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, {19} and after taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. {20} At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.""

(1 Corinthians 9:16 NIV) "Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!"

(Isaiah 61:1-3 NIV) "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, {2} to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, {3} and provide for those who grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor."

When the Holy Spirit comes in power, someone will be called to preach. Here, it was Peter -- later it was Paul -- eventually, it may be you. Peter had no formal training, but God compelled him to preach. Preaching can take many forms, from exposition of the Scriptures, to one-on-one witnessing about what God has done in our lives. Peter opened the Scriptures in a new way, and told the mockers that they were not hearing drunken speech, but the voice of God. He proclaimed the sovereignty of God and the amazing grace of the Lord. He told them that their prophets had seen this day coming, and that the Holy Spirit was being poured out for all people. No one would be excluded from the chance to accept God’s grace. That’s still true today. Jesus calls us to receive Him, and then calls us to preach the gospel in some way. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day